One of the important birds that winters in the area is Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris. This race of White-fronted Goose with its strikingly attractive orange-yellow bill breeds in W Greenland and travels via Iceland to winter exclusively in the British Isles.
A flock of 129 was feeding on grassland near Threave Castle when I visited two days ago ...
... although distant they gave good views on the short turf and flew to the next field showing off the striking tail pattern characteristic of the race ...
... with other wintering areas, notably in Ireland and Islay holding greater numbers, the Loch Ken population is still important ... in 1963 the flock there numbered 400 - 500 but has declined since with only just over 200 birds present in recent winters ... research on the race is ongoing and many birds carry neck-collars ... some were visible on these birds but at such long range it was impossible to read the characters ...
... despite the two races of White-fronted Goose being currently considered to be the same species, these Greenland White-fronted Geese looked so different from the Eurasian White-fronted Geese which I saw a Slimbridge recently ... not only is the bill colour different but Greenland White-fronted Goose has a longer neck, is larger, has a darker mantle and more black barring on the belly as well as having a narrower white band on the tip of the tail ...
... it becomes increasingly likely that the two races will become recognised as distinct species ...
... the marshes adjoining the River Dee at Threave Castle had good numbers of Pintail, that most attractive of ducks ... with males outnumbering females by a good margin ...
... Wigeon, Teal and Gadwall and scattered Whooper Swans accompanied by encouragingly good numbers of juveniles occupied the flooded marshland ...
... the River Dee itself was well above its normal level and seemed to have few birds ... until a small group of Goldeneye came into view ... five males and a single female ...
... a full adult male swam in front, followed by a rather advanced first-winter male ...
... an adult male and female swam together ...
... and the male instigated some courtship behaviour ...
... eliciting a rapid but brief response from the female ...
... well it is still only November ! ...
While just up-river a female Peregrine had its mind on other things ... focused on dismembering and devouring what looked like a recently killed Blackbird ...
... the action took place in a recess in the wall of Threave Castle, built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim and subsequently occupied by the Black Douglases who wreaked a good deal of havoc in the area until quelled by King James 11 in 1455 ...
... happier times today, but not for the Blackbird ...
... as the afternoon wore on and in the warm glow of the setting sun some skeins of Pink-footed Geese flew in and over from the east ...
... the low sun illuminating their undersides as they disappeared ...
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